January 27, 2009
Wild have outburst against Kings in home win
By Jon Yaneff, Sports Reporter
As Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League season starts to wind down for the King Wild, things seem to be going accordingly.
The Wild played two different North Division teams, with one being good and the other weak. The weekend started with a 7-3 loss to the third-place Nipissing Alouettes (23-10-1, 45 points) at the Sturgeon Falls Arena Friday.
After a scoreless first period, the Alouettes struck with three in the second. Wild forwards Brendan Farrugia, Steve Wicklum and Marc Fortin all scored in the final frame as well. Nipissing then scored four more times in the final eight minutes of the game.
?We didn?t capitalize on our chances, which meant we were playing a little more of a trap system because we wanted to conserve energy,? said Wild assistant coach Sheldon Friske, who was replacing head coach Paul Hampton (sick) for the weekend.
The opposite happened Saturday at the Dr. William Laceby Community Centre and Arena, where the Wild capitalized on many of their chances, resulting in a 10-1 victory over the seventh-place Espanola Kings (5-25-1, 11 points).
The home side got off to a quick start by leading 6-0 after the opening frame. Highlights in the first included forward Matt Marchese scoring twice, while Farrugia scored an unassisted marker by swinging the puck past goalie Mark Wardell. Matthew Salituro, Nick Leggieri and Anthony Simone were the other goal scorers in the period.
King continued to dominate in the second, as defenceman Ryan Tremmel scored, while Leggieri netted his second and Marchese got his hat trick. Espanola right-winger Brian Waboose gave his team life on the powerplay with about seven minutes left in the frame.
After Wicklum scored about five minutes into the third, things heated up with Fortin and Farrugia each getting 10-minute game misconducts. With about three minutes left a fight broke out, as Tremmel earned himself a game suspension. Goaltender Phil Bogner also had the urge to fight, but his counterpart Wardell refused. Bogner was still fiery, so Kyle Parker ended up finishing the game.
The South Division fourth-place Wild (20-12-2, 42 points) will attempt to string together some more wins with a pair of games against their own division. Friday they have a rare afternoon contest against the sixth-place Ontario Lightning Rams (8-24, 16 points) at King City Arena, starting at noon. King may travel to York University to play the fifth-place Toronto Canada Moose (14-15-3, 31 points), which should start at 12 p.m. depending on Toronto?s scheduling issues.
Playoff picture: If the playoffs would start today, the fourth-place Wild would play the third-place Deseronto Storm (22-8-3, 47 points) in the South Division quart-finals. King are nine points ahead of the Canada Moose and nine points behind the second-place Bradford Rattlers (24-6-1, 53 points), so the Wild?s only chance to change in the standings would be to jump the Storm and get home advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
?We?re continuing to progress as a cohesive unit,? said DeBow. ?The playoffs are just around the corner, so we better be prepared.?
Ville-Marie fold: The Ville-Marie Dragons (2-26, 4 points) have folded with less than a month remaining in the GMHL regular season because of money issues. The Wild were scheduled to play the Dragons Saturday (Jan. 31) at the Frere Arthur-Bergeron Arena and Feb. 21 in Nobleton. As a result of the dissolution of Ville-Marie, King automatically receives the four points in the standings and 3-0 default victories.
Injury report: Defencemen Taylor McComb (broken hand) gets his cast off this week and hopes to be back soon. Defenceman Alec Austin (hernia), and forward Tom Coukos (ruptured tendon in hand) will still miss a few more weeks, but they hope to be ready when the playoffs begin in about a month.
As Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League season starts to wind down for the King Wild, things seem to be going accordingly.
The Wild played two different North Division teams, with one being good and the other weak. The weekend started with a 7-3 loss to the third-place Nipissing Alouettes (23-10-1, 45 points) at the Sturgeon Falls Arena Friday.
After a scoreless first period, the Alouettes struck with three in the second. Wild forwards Brendan Farrugia, Steve Wicklum and Marc Fortin all scored in the final frame as well. Nipissing then scored four more times in the final eight minutes of the game.
?We didn?t capitalize on our chances, which meant we were playing a little more of a trap system because we wanted to conserve energy,? said Wild assistant coach Sheldon Friske, who was replacing head coach Paul Hampton (sick) for the weekend.
The opposite happened Saturday at the Dr. William Laceby Community Centre and Arena, where the Wild capitalized on many of their chances, resulting in a 10-1 victory over the seventh-place Espanola Kings (5-25-1, 11 points).
The home side got off to a quick start by leading 6-0 after the opening frame. Highlights in the first included forward Matt Marchese scoring twice, while Farrugia scored an unassisted marker by swinging the puck past goalie Mark Wardell. Matthew Salituro, Nick Leggieri and Anthony Simone were the other goal scorers in the period.
King continued to dominate in the second, as defenceman Ryan Tremmel scored, while Leggieri netted his second and Marchese got his hat trick. Espanola right-winger Brian Waboose gave his team life on the powerplay with about seven minutes left in the frame.
After Wicklum scored about five minutes into the third, things heated up with Fortin and Farrugia each getting 10-minute game misconducts. With about three minutes left a fight broke out, as Tremmel earned himself a game suspension. Goaltender Phil Bogner also had the urge to fight, but his counterpart Wardell refused. Bogner was still fiery, so Kyle Parker ended up finishing the game.
The South Division fourth-place Wild (20-12-2, 42 points) will attempt to string together some more wins with a pair of games against their own division. Friday they have a rare afternoon contest against the sixth-place Ontario Lightning Rams (8-24, 16 points) at King City Arena, starting at noon. King may travel to York University to play the fifth-place Toronto Canada Moose (14-15-3, 31 points), which should start at 12 p.m. depending on Toronto?s scheduling issues.
Playoff picture: If the playoffs would start today, the fourth-place Wild would play the third-place Deseronto Storm (22-8-3, 47 points) in the South Division quart-finals. King are nine points ahead of the Canada Moose and nine points behind the second-place Bradford Rattlers (24-6-1, 53 points), so the Wild?s only chance to change in the standings would be to jump the Storm and get home advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
?We?re continuing to progress as a cohesive unit,? said DeBow. ?The playoffs are just around the corner, so we better be prepared.?
Ville-Marie fold: The Ville-Marie Dragons (2-26, 4 points) have folded with less than a month remaining in the GMHL regular season because of money issues. The Wild were scheduled to play the Dragons Saturday (Jan. 31) at the Frere Arthur-Bergeron Arena and Feb. 21 in Nobleton. As a result of the dissolution of Ville-Marie, King automatically receives the four points in the standings and 3-0 default victories.
Injury report: Defencemen Taylor McComb (broken hand) gets his cast off this week and hopes to be back soon. Defenceman Alec Austin (hernia), and forward Tom Coukos (ruptured tendon in hand) will still miss a few more weeks, but they hope to be ready when the playoffs begin in about a month.